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A trait database for Guianan rain forest trees permits intra- and inter-specific contrasts

Une base de données sur l’autécologie des arbres de la forêt tropicale de Guyane française

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Abstract

We present a plant trait database covering autecology for rain forest trees of French Guiana. The database comprises more than thirty traits including autecology (e.g., habitat associations and reproductive phenology), wood structure (e.g., density and tension characteristics) and physiology at the whole plant (e.g., carbon and nitrogen isotopes) and leaf level (e.g., specific leaf area, photosynthetic capacity). The current database describes traits for about nine hundred species from three hundred genera in one hundred families. For more than sixty species, data on twelve morphological and ecophysiological traits are provided for individual plants under different environmental conditions and at different ontogenetic stages. The database is thus unique in permitting intraspecific analyses, such as the effects of ontogenetic stages or environmental conditions on trait values and their relationships.

Résumé

Nous présentons une base de données sur l’autécologie des arbres de la forêt tropicale de Guyane française. La base contient des données sur plus de trente traits concernant l’autécologie (par exemple, les préférences d’habitat et la phénologie reproductive), la structure du bois (par exemple, la densité et les caractéristiques du bois de tension) et la physiologie aux niveaux de la plante entière (par exemple, les isotopes du carbone et de l’azote) et de la feuille (par exemple, la surface spécifique ou la capacité photosynthétique). Dans son état actuel, la base décrit les traits d’environ neuf cents espèces de trois cents genres dans cent familles. Pour plus de soixante espèces, des données sur douze traits morphologiques et écophysiologiques sont fournis au niveau individuel pour des plants dans différentes conditions environnementales à différents stades ontogéniques. Cette base de données permet donc des analyses intraspécifiques, comme les effets des stades ontogéniques ou des conditions environnementales sur les valeurs des traits et leurs relations, ce en quoi elle n’a pas d’équivalent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AgroParisTech - ENGREF, Unité Mixte de Recherches Écologie des Forêts de Guyane, Kourou, France

    Mariwenn Ollivier & Eric Marcon

  2. INRA, Unité Mixte de Recherches Écologie des Forêts de Guyane, Kourou, France

    Christopher Baraloto

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  1. Mariwenn Ollivier
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  2. Christopher Baraloto
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  3. Eric Marcon
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Correspondence to Christopher Baraloto.

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Ollivier, M., Baraloto, C. & Marcon, E. A trait database for Guianan rain forest trees permits intra- and inter-specific contrasts. Ann. For. Sci. 64, 781–786 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1051/forest:2007058

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